Kung Fu Panda 3 is set in China with the film’s lead Po, played by Jack Black, meeting his biological father before confronting an evil supernatural warrior.
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One explanation: DreamWorks and its distribution partner, 20th Century Fox, chose an unusual January release date for the third installment – the other two arrived in the summer – to take advantage of a prime release window in China, where the New Year holiday is beginning. In its first three days of release, DreamWorks Animation’s high-stakes “Kung Fu Panda 3” may have left money on the table at home in search of riches overseas.
At the USA box office, the movie showed plenty of punch as well, earning $41 million – a total that means it was almost as well-received as Kung Fu Panda 2, which made $47.7 million its first weekend in 2011, according to Reuters.
Back on the top 10 chart, Alejandro G. Inarritu’s awards frontrunner The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, came in # 2 with $12.4 million for a domestic total of $138.2 million.
KFP3’s performance in China met best expectations with a record-breaking opening weekend for an animated film – $58.3 million from about 15,000 screens, including 3D and IMAX.
And in an interview earlier this month (Jan16), Kung Fu Panda 3 co-director Alessandro Carloni noted although several franchise instalments are in the works, all of these movies are being treated as standalone releases.
The family film cost around $145-M to produce, and earned an A CinemaScore in the US. Kung Fu Panda 3 earned an A CinemaScore and opened in 3,955 locations. Starring Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, and Eric Bana, the inspirational drama did earn an A- CinemaScore, but it only managed to secure fourth place.
Disney and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens came in No. 4 with an estimated $10.8 million as it approaches the $900 million mark in North America and $2 billion globally.
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And Disney’s (DIS) “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” nabbed third with $10.7 million in its seventh weekend.
